International Women’s Day 2014: inspiring academics

With International Women’s Day just around the corner, we are highlighting a few of the Faculty’s inspirational female academics. The women below are experienced communicators who can each speak passionately about their areas of expertise. We hope they can inspire others to follow in their footsteps.

Egyptologist Dr Joyce Tyldesley is currently researching the theory of the curse of Tutankhamen and the impact the Egyptian king had on various aspects of modern life. She is also writing a book on Nefertiti and how the bust of the Egyptian queen is still influencing modern perceptions of beauty. Joyce’s previous books and articles on ancient Egypt include three television tie-ins, and Cleopatra, Last Queen of Egypt, which was a Radio Four ‘Book of the Week.’ Her most recent book, Tutankhamen’s Curse: The Developing History of an Egyptian King, was published in February 2012 and won the Felicia A Holton Book Award from the Archaeological Institute of America.

Dr Sheena Cruickshank is a passionate science communicator who created ‘The Worm Wagon’ alongside two colleagues. The Worm Wagon is a mobile workshop that illustrates the effects of the parasitic worm infections which affect approximately 2 billion people across the globe. A key 2020 goal for the World Health Organisation is to provide deworming medication to 75 percent of school-age children, improving their school attendance and raising levels of education. Sheena is also a former winner of the Manchester International Women’s Day award for Women in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics and has been awarded the Society of Biology Science Communication Award.

Professor Eriko Takano is the final female academic we focused on. She is researching the use of synthetic biology for the large-scale, genome-based reengineering of antibiotic production. Her research aims to combat antibiotic resistant bacteria, which is an emerging public health threat worldwide. Furthermore, she aims to apply the synthetic biology tools developed in her research group to design and produce not only antibiotics, but a wide range of bioactive molecules, including anti-cancer agents.